MADRID – A Spanish judge has rejected a prosecutor's request to drop charges of tax fraud against Lionel Messi and ordered the investigation into three cases of suspected unpaid taxes to proceed.

A court statement says there is "sufficient evidence" to believe the Argentina player "could have known and consented" to the creation of a fictitious corporate structure to avoid paying taxes on income made from Messi's image rights.

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The statement was issued Monday by the court in Gava, Barcelona.

In June, Messi's public relations firm said a prosecutor had agreed to drop the tax fraud case against the player and his father.

Messi's father, Jorge Horacio Messi, is under investigation for an alleged 4 million euros ($5.3 million) in unpaid taxes from 2007-09.